Martial arts studio employee arrested after cops find hidden camera in bathroom
Ryan Curtin, 25, of Oakland, stands accused of pulling off the despicable scheme for several months at the Tiger Schulmann's Martial Arts studio in Ramsey.
Police cuffed the suspected culprit on Wednesday after their investigation uncovered that he had allegedly filmed several victims - all women and children - in 'various stages of undress.'
Curtin was initially arrested in April when the hidden cameras were first discovered at the popular martial arts school, PIX11 reported.
At the time, he was only charged with invasion of privacy and was released, awaiting further court action.
Ramsey police then sounded the alarm to the Bergen County Cyber Crimes Unit and Digital Forensics Lab, which delved into Curtin's alleged disgraceful actions even further.
Once the agency gathered reasonable evidence to suggest Curtin had been sickeningly filming unsuspecting women and children as they used the bathroom, authorities took action once again.
When Curtin was rearrested on Wednesday, he was hit with several other charges, including production and possession of child sexual material.
Investigators say Curtin has been recording people in the bathroom at the Tiger Schulmann's Martial Arts studio in Ramsey (pictured) for several months
According to Bergen County arrest records, he remains in custody without bond. His first court appearance has not been scheduled yet.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Ramsey location of Tiger Schulmann's for comment.
Tiger Schulmann's has 55 locations across five states, offering self-defense, jiujitsu and kickboxing courses.
News about the disgusting actions Curtin took at the family-friendly studio has left studio members shaken.
'My family trained for years at this facility. The owner is above reproach and is probably beside himself with this,' one woman shared on Facebook.
'Lucky this POS was arrested and not found out by the staff. I'm devastated that someone took advantage in a place that has been community oriented for 20 years.'
Curtin's arrest comes about a month after an American Airlines flight attendant who secretly filmed multiple young girls using a plane bathroom was sentenced to 18 and a half years behind bars.
Estes Carter Thompson was arrested in January of last year after a 14-year-old girl discovered he had set up a phone to record those inside the toilet.
Prosecutors said in a sentencing memo that this behavior had been going on for some time, stretching back to January 2023.
Thompson, from Charlotte, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to a count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor.
Judge Julia E. Kobick called his behavior 'appalling' and said his victims' 'innocence has been lost' because of him.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
What to know about the Michigan sign-stealing scheme and NCAA punishments
The NCAA imposed a multimillion-dollar fine on Michigan and suspended football coach Sherrone Moore for a third game on Friday for a sign-stealing scandal that has overshadowed college football's most successful program for nearly two years. Here's what you need to know: What is the scandal about? Reports surfaced in 2023 of a scheme run by now-former Michigan staffer Connor Stalions. The scheme involved a network of Stalions' associates — dubbed the 'KGB' — attending games and recording opposing team sidelines to capture play-calling signals. The NCAA said it found '56 instances of off-campus, in-person scouting of 13 future regular-season opponents' over 52 games over three seasons (2021-23). The NCAA prohibits in-person scouting of same-season future opponents and using electronic equipment to record another team's signals. What did Connor Stalions do? The NCAA said Stalions spearheaded the sign-stealing operation. The former Marine was accused of assembling a team of scouts which he'd send to games of upcoming opponents. Stalions' network of scouts would provide him with film of signal callers on future opponents' sidelines. The NCAA said he would then decipher the signals, giving Michigan a competitive advantage. The NCAA said the extent of the operation is not fully known as Stalions and others involved have destroyed and withheld evidence. Stalions, a Navy graduate, was suspended by the school and later resigned. He recently said he knew almost every signal opponents used in seven games over two seasons. What is a show-cause order? A show-cause order effectively bans an individual from college athletics. In order to be hired for a college sports job by a school that is an NCAA member during a show-cause order, the prospective employer would have to make a strong case, or show cause, in front of the NCAA's Committee on Infractions. Former coach Jim Harbaugh, former assistant director of player personnel Denard Robinson and Stalions will be prohibited from athletic-related activities for years. Harbaugh was given the longest show-cause order, spanning 10 years after the conclusion of his current four-year order on Aug. 7, 2028. Robinson is banned for three years, and Stalions for eight years. Harbaugh, a former Michigan star quarterback, is heading into his second year as head coach of the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers. Is the fine significant? Michigan faces financial penalties surpassing $20 million, including a $50,000 fine, a 10% fine on the football program's budget, a 10% fine on Michigan's 2025-2026 scholarships and a fine matching the projected loss of postseason revenue for 2025 and 2026. Will that hurt a school with Michigan's resources? All top programs are sharing up to $20.5 million this school year directly with their athletes and under the House decision scholarships are unlimited, though there are roster caps. That has forced schools to look for revenue sources from different places. In June, Michigan said revenues and expenses for its next fiscal year were expected to be $266.3 million. What about coach Moore? Moore had previously been issued a self-imposed two-game suspension by Michigan, which will be served this season. The NCAA levied an additional one-game suspension, which Moore will serve during next season's opener. Moore received a two-year show-cause order but unlike Stalions and Harbaugh he will be allowed to fulfill coaching commitments and other related activities. ___
The Independent
27 minutes ago
- The Independent
Colorado jail's ex-commander sued over allegedly watching strip search videos of over 100 women
Three women who were among the more than 100 inmates whose strip search videos were allegedly watched repeatedly by a Colorado jail's former commander are suing him and government agencies, saying they failed to keep tabs on who was accessing the images and why. The proposed federal class action lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges that La Plata County and its sheriff's office knew that Edward Aber had a history of being accused of sexual impropriety or harassment when he was hired and failed to place controls on access to strip search footage, including monitoring who was accessing it. Aber is already being criminally prosecuted after a state investigation found that he had watched the strip search videos of at least 117 female inmates over about five years, often viewing them weeks and months after they were recorded as part of the jail's intake process. The searches of female inmates entering the county jail are done by female deputies and recorded on their body cameras to ensure the new inmates are not hiding contraband like drugs on their bodies. His lawyer in the criminal case, Barrie Newberger King, was traveling and did not immediately return emails or a voice message left at her office, which is closed this week. A telephone message left at a number listed for Aber was not immediately returned. Interim Deputy County Manager Megan Downing said the county does not comment on active litigation. Another lawsuit involving the jail was filed last month against the county commissioners, the sheriff and others by the parents of an inmate who died there in 2023 after they say the jail's nurses and sheriff's deputies ignored his cries for help over about 15 hours. Aber was placed on paid leave in July 2024 while he was investigated for 'alleged sexual conduct' with female inmates and sexual harassment of sheriff's office employees, according to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by an agent from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation in the video case. The previous investigation did not result in any criminal charges being filed against Aber, who resigned in July 2024, but prompted a review of his computer use, the document said. Between February 2019 and July 2024, investigators found that Aber had logged in to access body camera footage over 3,000 times, mostly to watch footage labeled as strip searches, without any apparent legitimate reason, according to the arrest affidavit. The videos were sometimes watched from home and hotels, often late at night or early in the morning, it said. Aber was charged last month with one count of first degree official misconduct as well 117 counts of invasion of privacy for sexual gratification, all misdemeanors, for alleging watching the videos of female inmates, including the three women who filed the lawsuit. The lawsuit also seeks to include any other woman whose videos were allegedly viewed by Aber. The document noted that some videos Aber had accessed were purged from the system, so there could be more women whose videos he watched beyond the videos of the 117 women that remained. The lawsuit accuses Aber and the others of violating the women's constitutional rights, including their rights to privacy and to be protected against unreasonable searches. One of their attorneys, Kevin Mehr, acknowledged that strip searches are needed in jails. But he said there could be some limits on why videos of such intrusive moments can be viewed, such as if contraband was found or if an inmate complains of being mistreated, he said. Otherwise, trust in the criminal justice system can be eroded, he said. 'Seeing this happen and thinking this could happen somewhere else really deteriorates the whole trust in the system," Mehr said.
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
New Mexico Republican political candidate gets 80 years for shootings at Democrats' homes
A failed political candidate in New Mexico has been sentenced to 80 years in federal prison for his convictions in a series of drive-by shootings at the homes of state and local lawmakers in the aftermath of the 2020 election. A jury convicted former Republican candidate Solomon Peña in March of conspiracy, weapons and other charges in the shootings in December 2022 and January 2023 on the homes of four Democratic officials in Albuquerque, including the current state house speaker. Prosecutors, who had sought a 90-year sentence, said Peña has shown no remorse and had hoped to cause political change by terrorizing people who held contrary views to him into being too afraid to take part in political life. Peña's lawyers had sought a 60-year sentence, saying their client maintains that he is innocent of the charges. They have said Peña was not involved in the shootings and that prosecutors were relying on the testimony of two men who bear responsibility and accepted plea agreements in exchange for leniency. 'Today was a necessary step toward Mr Peña's continued fight to prove his innocence,' said Nicholas Hart, one of Peña's attorneys, after Wednesday's sentence. 'He looks forward to the opportunity to appeal, where serious issues about the propriety of this prosecution will be addressed.' The attacks took place as threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials surged across the country after Donald Trump and his allies called into question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors said Peña resorted to violence in the belief that a 'rigged' election had robbed him of victory in his bid to serve in the state legislature. The shootings targeted the homes of officials including two county commissioners after their certification of the 2022 election, in which Peña lost by nearly 50 percentage points. No one was injured, but in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator's 10-year-old daughter. Two other men who had acknowledged helping Peña with the attacks had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges and received years-long prison sentences.
